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Herb Ninja

Spoils of drug war not an exact science

3-28-2005 | Hillary Chabot | Sentinel & Enterprise

Local law enforcement officials say when it comes to getting their hands on seized drug money, it's all about who you work with.

If officers work with the state, they get half of the cash.

If they work with federal officials, they get 80 percent, said Gerald Poirier, commander of the North Worcester County Drug Task Force.

"It is frustrating," Poirier said about the automatic 50/50 split with state officials. "Many communities and towns are working on nickel-and-dime budgets, but on the other hand, we wouldn't be able to prosecute people without the district attorney's office."

A fair split?

Worcester County District Attorney John Conte said he believes the split is fair because his office will give money to cities and towns for drug investigations if they need it.

"We've had very little difficulties in that area," Conte said about splitting seized drug money. "You try to put (the money) where it will have the most impact."

Some law enforcement officials are happy the federal Drug Enforcement Administration lead the massive drug investigation where they seized a total of $500,000, more than a ton of marijuana and five firearms last month.

Roberto Morfin-Rodriguez, 41, of 615 Willard St., and his nephew Gilberto Morfin Rodriguez, 26 of 45 Stephens Road, are alleged kingpins in a trafficking organization which brought pounds of marijuana from Mexico to Leominster.

Police found $200,000 and roughly 800 pounds of marijuana in North Worcester County alone.

Leominster Police Chief Peter Roddy said he is aware of the 20/80 split when they work with federal officials, but said he isn't sure how much money his department will receive.

"Where this is a case that involves federal, state and local departments I don't know where it's going to go," Roddy said.

The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency worked with the State Police gang unit, the state police drug unit, the North Worcester County Drug Task Force, and the Leominster Police Department on the case.

Twenty percent of the $500,000 seized from the operation will go to the Asset Forfeiture Section in the Department of Justice because the U.S. Attorney is prosecuting the case, said Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

The rest will go to the Drug Enforcement Administration, who will ask the other departments involved to fill out a form explaining how much they feel they deserve, Martin said.

"It's sort of like a grant application," Martin said. "Then the DEA reviews them and they divvy it up that way."

Conte's office receives half of the seized drug money in every forfeiture the state is involved in because the judicial system prosecutes the cases, Roddy said.

"If it's a joint investigation between Leominster and Fitchburg, and the state is involved, the state gets half, and we split the rest between us," Roddy said.

Roddy said the money is often split depending on who does the most work.

"If everybody is involved in the raid, we split it up evenly, but if someone came in as a warm body to help out, they might not get as much," Roddy said.

Conte has already granted the North Worcester County Drug Task Force $20,000 this year, Poirier said.

"Basically the money under our statute is used for education, investigations and anything that is for law enforcement purposes," Conte said. "The forfeiture money is not consistent. It's not something you can count on. Some years it's big, and sometimes it's small."

Conte said his office receives roughly $250,000 a year in forfeited cash.

"We've used it towards educational conferences for training or towards overtime expenses," Conte said.

Fitchburg Police Chief Edward Cronin said the money goes right back into drug investigations.

"We usually use it for drug buys or equipment, but the chief can use it for anything he deems necessary," Cronin said.

The money also goes toward paying off confidential informants.

Local officials might not see the drug money seized until years after they make the drug arrests.

"It can be upwards of a year or more to get a case to trial, then tack on another six months for sentencing. It could be a couple of years (before officials can use the money)," said Martin.

"It can take three months up to a couple of years until the judge declares the money forfeited," Poirier said.

Officials put the money into an escrow account until the suspects' trial is over, and the judge rules the seized money is forfeited.

"The defense lawyer has the right to petition the court to get the money back at any time," Poirier said.

Roddy said the city has seized $5,000 in drug money since July 1st, but they can't use it until the trials are over.

But Roddy can use $36,000 in forfeited money from other communities, that Leominster helped, and from selling nine cars.

Poirier said he's gotten the money he used to buy drugs during an investigation back when he raided a house.

"Oh, yeah. We recorded the serial numbers and we found our money in there when we raided the house," Poirier said.

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